The photographs in these five books represent a sustained effort to describe the contemporary vernacular landscape of Southern California and the American West. From his early work in the 1970's to the most recent series in Las Vegas (2000?2004), Wessel?s wit and insight illuminate a world rich in nuance, humor, and irony.

"Fascinated by his mother's real-estate photos as a teenager in New Jersey, Wessel shot this series of bungalows in Southern California from the armrest of his truck more than thirty years later. Playfully candy-colored, these houses suggest a human presence only in details, such as a modest cooler left curbside or a garden hose coiled against the side of a house. Although different in color, the structural similarities of the bungalows, as well as the similar compositions of the photographs themselves, imply both the futility of originality and the manufactured quality of the American dream of home ownership." MOCP -